Handler wrote:Assuming this was in Chicago, that's only 1oz off the record. Amazing!
Not in Chicago- I was way north.
I was thinking about something I like to say "Nothing beats a Great Lake Smallie" and just how appropriate that is. I have fished a lot of lakes in Illinois including taking many trips to Newton, Lake of Egypt, and Jacksonville. Those are considered to be the best lakes in the state. Newton was just rated somewhere in the top 100 lakes by Bassmaster and a couple years ago Jacksonville was rated the best lake in the state. And those lakes are so far below what we have in the Great Lakes. Just Thursday morning, I was feeling a little down about my fishing performance. I had stupidly broken off on 2 fish (frayed line) and had missed too many while fishing a tube. And then I realized that if I were fishing a tournament I would of had 16-18 lbs of bass which is more than anything I've ever had in a tournament. Not surprisingly, my biggest limits have been caught in Door Co around 16 lbs.
When I think about my last 20 years of fishing, my top 10 best fishing moments would be littered with smallmouth fishing on the Great Lakes even though I have spent much more time fishing largemouth. I'll always take a spring trip to So IL in March or April every year but come summer time it is all smallmouth all the time. Get yourself out to Door Co, St Clair, Erie, Grand Traverse, and the Bays de Noc. I highly recommend it.